I spent one night at the Stanford Inn a few years ago. We loved it. The rooms are so cozy and have wonderful, easy to use fireplaces. The indoor swimming pool, hot tub and sauna were really nice. Raven's dinner and brunch was delicious.

I've only had breakfast and dinner a few times at the Ravens - never stayed in Standford. The Stanford looks really nice, but it is expensive.The restaurant is really nice, but remember for breakfast/brunch they do serve egg dishes. It's easy enough since they say it on the menu, but when I went there I was a bit weirded out that they'd be vegan for dinner and serve eggs for breakfast.

I've only had breakfast and dinner a few times at the Ravens - never stayed in Standford. The Stanford looks really nice, but it is expensive.The restaurant is really nice, but remember for breakfast/brunch they do serve egg dishes. It's easy enough since they say it on the menu, but when I went there I was a bit weirded out that they'd be vegan for dinner and serve eggs for breakfast.

I went to Raven's for dinner in May for my birthday and enjoyed it a lot. Food was fantastic, service was great, the grounds of the inn are beautiful. My boyfriend, who isn't vegan, said he liked the food there better than Millennium.

also, dogs can stay in the rooms overnight there and they will bring you dog treats and stuff.

or, you can do what we did, which is stay at the Holiday Inn Express, which also allows dogs, but is much cheaper, and then bring your dog over to Ravens for brunch. Fun! We used to go to Mendo all the time to visit our god-daughters.

WE just got back from there yesterday! It was great experience. The staff were very attentive and in the dining room they had a nutrition consultant to answer any questions about the menu.Hubby had sunchoke soup, wild mushroom risotto, also the bread came with a nice mushroom pate. I had kale salad with wild mushroom ceviche(the kale was massaged to make it more tender--never heard of that method) and tamales with mushrooms and cashew creme and cilantro sauce, black beans, rice and beet salad/relish of some sort. I should mention they have a full bar-- nice selection of cocktails, liquors, beers, wine and non-alcoholic wines and drinks. I had a Manhattan, then with the meal I had some vegan red wine: Rivino Mendocino county Sangiovese 2009 vintage. For dessert we had the banana split with chocolate, strawberry and vanilla ice creams over a nut crust which had the bananas. That was over the top! It was good. In the lobby they have a giftshop where they have wine and books and various gifts and a huge selection of vegan books!Our hotel room was quite nice, with a fireplace, a porch, ample bathroom,microwave,fridge,TV(you can rent DVDs from them),CD player, couch, coffee table. They decorated all rooms for the season which was nice. The bed was extremely comfy with lots of pillows.I must say the whole experience was worth every penny. I recommend everyone start saving now to be able to go there. I forgot to mention they have an indoor pool, jacuzzi and sauna, full spa services like massage, facials, yoga and tai chi classes, nutrition classes and you can go on a 2 hour forest walk to learn about the native foods. We only stayed one night and did not have time to take advantage of these services. Also, they are very dog-friendly, they welcome all pets as long as you don't leave them alone in your room.

I was just here a couple weekends ago and agree with the previous post. Really fantastic place, best/fancy vegan food I've had next to millennium, best brunch I've had period. Everything about it was great, you can bring a pet, the room had a fireplace and there were delicious Fresh chocolate chip cookies waiting for you in your room when you check in. Everyone there was super nice- save up and check it out.

I'm staying here next weekend! I cannot wait, I've been dying to go since I moved here in May.

Any restaurants between Mendocino and San Francisco we should try on the drive up? We'll have dinner there of course, but don't want to miss anything fun on the way. I wish the Fairfax Diner would open, but it seems stalled. Thanks for any tips!

Alin, i live in central Mendo county and i'm not a local, but get to hit the coast a bit. I have found there are usually good vegan options at most of the restaurants, and there is a great little coop in town, were you can get almost anything you might need. For something that is not too outrageously priced, I like Frankies in Mendocino for lunch (i have a 3 yo, and tend to take out), they have pizza by the slice which they can do vegan and or gluten free and there are several other vegan entrees, i like their falafel. I also hear that mendocino cafe is good. To me, the whole town is a bit pricey, but it is precious, enjoy!

I've only lived here a year, and i haven't been south of mendo county (homebody) so i can't speak on were to stop most of the way, but there are some great beach towns in the county on 101. My fave place to stop is Elk, to eat there's a sweet little country store/deli, which is south of mendo, and for me the real attraction is my favorite public beach (if you check it out, its a little steep on the way down, not hard, just good to know ab). the deli person has happily made me a sammie that was vegan even though they didn't have an option the one day i didn't plan and pack- it was roasted veggies that day, and i think we've gotten my son vegan ice cream from the cooler. The store is surprisingly well stocked for its size. Elk is tiny, and if you pull into the parking lot for the park, the country store is across the way.

I was thinking about The Stanford Inn this morning as I woke up. I had only heard of this place a few months ago due to the cookbook. There is a thread in Food Porn but also will need general guidance. I am almost embarrassed to say as a native Californian, I have only been as far north as SF and last time was many years ago.

Our tenth anniversary is coming up in November and I've put off plans although I was thinking of going to Scotland but this year is busier than normal and fitting in a longer Europe trip and family visits would be tough vacation time wise.

My tentative plan is to fly into SFO, stay there for 2 nights, drive to the Inn and stay there for 4 nights. Doing stuff in and around the are but also just chilling. The drive back to SF, stay there for 1 night, then fly to San Diego to spend the week of Thanksgiving at my parents, then fly home.

So yeah, hoping for tips and what not on the general area besid s SF.

_________________You are all a disgrace to vegans. Go f*ck yourselves, especially linanil.

Four nights is a lot of time, but if you really want to just chill out in nature, it's ideal. There is a lot of beautiful stuff around Mendo but even 4 days seems like a lot of time (then again, if you've never been there you'll probably find lots to do!). I personally would probably spend 2 days in Mendo and maybe another 2 days up in Arcata or something like that. But either plan sounds amazing!

Inland from Mendocino is the Anderson Valley, you'll find a lot of wine and food farms, but one of the highlights is Boonville, which has its own brewery and its own dying language (only 4 remaining adult residents of the town are still fluent in Boontling, they meet once a week at the coffee shop to chat). There are tons and tons of beautiful little tiny coastal towns in the area, and an gorgeous old wooden Russian fort from the 19th century (Fort Ross). And of course TREEEEEEEES and trees and trees. And pot.

Also within reasonable driving distance is Calistoga, with its natural hot springs and fancy muds, and somewhere nearby is Vichy Hot Springs, which I've never been to but keep meaning to check out! It was Jack London's favorite, according to all the billboards!

Yeah and I guess if it rains, then my plans of hiking every day probably wouldn't fall like I like them. Also, I know we'll probably come back and do similar trips around SF just because I'd like to show my husband more of northern California. When I was young, mostly all I saw was Merced or a few SF trips I did on my own.

_________________You are all a disgrace to vegans. Go f*ck yourselves, especially linanil.

Stay in Sonoma! In the city proper or Sebastapol. Sebastapol is a great little town with fantastic food and it's super chill. I agree that 4 days at Stanford Inn is probably too much. I've stayed two nights twice and it was perfect.

Sebastopol is really nice but for my money Guerneville is only a hop, skip, and a jump away! You've got Redwoods and the Russian River right there, and the coast within 10-15 minutes or so. They've got a great little natural foods store and while it's got a really sweet small-town vibe, it was also Gaycation Central in the 70s-90s so you have the perfect combo of quiet countryside and a progressive, modern openness to all comers. However, in order to go to either Sebastopol or Guerneville, you'll have to go through Rohnert Park on 101, which is precisely where Amy's Drive-Through is. Too bad for you. ;)

If you want to treat yourself, there's an amazing spa called Osmosis in the nearby town of Freestone (it's seriously just a bend in the road). Instead of mud or mineral springs, you lay in a tub of steaming cedar shavings. There's some kind of biochemical process going on (bacteria, or something?) that basically means the cedar is composting, which gives it the natural warmth. It's wonderful, and you can do a session with your husband as they will accept mixed-gender appointments (not all spas do). Again, it's definitely a treat, but reeeeally recommended!

I decided to go for the plunge, although I'll have to figure out before and after plans but I booked 3 nights. I figure it'll give us 2 full days there, which even if it is rainy, it'll be fine. I may also look into this Netflix and Chill thing that the kids are always talking about.

_________________You are all a disgrace to vegans. Go f*ck yourselves, especially linanil.

I was trying to think of something to do on my birthday weekend in October and remembered this thread! I booked a stay for 2 nights. We are super stoked we can bring our pup--this will be his first trip post knee surgery so that's another reason to celebrate. Now I just have to figure out what to do up there. The inn looks beautiful but I'm not that good at sitting still. I'm thinking hiking all day Saturday and kayaking on Sunday. Does anyone have some trail recommendations? I'm leaning toward Russian Gulch SP. Looks like a nice balance of coastline and trees.